HUMENNE, SLOVAKIA

Welcome to the Humenne Website

Other Names

Homonna (Hungarian)

Humenne (Slovak)

Newest information about the Jewish Cemetery from Bert Gross(July, 2012)

Bert continues his work of restoring and protecting the Jewish Cemetery. He has been erecting and
fixing the broken monuments. Recently work has begun on numbering the gravestones to make it easier to find loved
ones. If you wish to donate funds to help in this project, please email Cherie Korer (see link at bottom of this
page) for Bert's contact info.

If you would like to visit the Humenne Jewish cemetery please contact Mr. Lebitzky (who has the key).
He can be reached at 011-421-917-796-185. Updated July, 2012:

The Humenne Jewish cemetery now has a solid fence!!
Funds are now needed to repair and reposition the gravestones. Please donate any amount by
emailing using the link at the bottom of this page. Bert Gross former resident of
Humenne and survivor has been working to preserve and improve the condition of
the cemetery through twice yearly cleanups that include cutting down of
high grass. Many stones are down, weathered and unreadable. Funds are urgently
needed to restore the cemetery.

Regina Salomon Fox

Regina Salomon Fox passed away peacefully on her 106th birthday!

Location Of Humenne

Humenne is located in Eastern Slovakia. Humenne was part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire (Zemplen Megye) until 1918, then it was in Czechoslovakia. Humenne
has been in the Slovak Republic since 1991 as a result of the "Velvet Revolution".

These Humenne webpages are dedicated to Regina SALAMON Fox

Regina Salamon was born on March 15, 1898 in the beautiful Humenne
valley to her loving parents Leopold (Moishe Aria) and Julie or Judith (Yehudas)EICHLER Salamon. Her brother was Herman (named Hersh Lieb or Tsvi Aryeh after grandfather Rabbi Hersh Leib Eichler (1824-1895), the owner of a
Kocsma and mohel. Hersh Leib's wife was Pearl SCHOENBERGER Eichler who left
Humenne about 1897 with her son Rabbi Meir Eichler and went to live in Israel
(she is buried in Sefad). Since I was a little girl who climbed up high
into her feather bed to listen to stories of faraway places with magical
names like Kudlovsa, Zemplen Megye, Munkacs, ODavidhaza, and Homonna, Bubbe
Fox has entranced me with her stories and still does. As Bubbe turns
105 years young I am still learning about the deeply religious and
industrious life of the Jews of Humenne and the surrounding towns tragically
marred by WWI and obliterated by the Holocaust. Come then and visit
Bubbe's
Humenne in all its beauty and sorrow, lest we forget. She walked these
streets, attended the Synagogue, watched the Grav (Count) Androshy Sandor
riding his horse in the verdant mountains above Humenne, took a shortcut
to Humenne through his Gothic Mansion just steps from Fathers's Tavern/Grocery/Inn and "place of entertainment" (Korchma or Koscma), served beer on tap, wine and wodka on market days and watched the century unfold.

Press Releases and Correspondence

Happy 105th Birthday to Regina Salamon Fox

The Children of Humenne, Udavske, and Rovne write to Regina Fox

Regina says, "When I saw all the pretty cards and read the letters from the children I was overcome with joy! Thank-you to all my young friends who wrote to me. May you all be blessed with good health and good fortune for your kindness and sincerity. Warm Regards to all the dear children who wrote!"

Pictures

Books and Movies About Humenne

"Z Pekla Stesti" or "The Devil's Own Luck" (1979) Originally Written in Czech, (translated into Slovak) by Ladislav Grosman. It's about a Humenne Jewish boy during the Holocaust.

Obchod na Korze , or "The Shop on Main Street ,"
One of the feature films presented at the Cannes Film Festival and 1965 Academy Award winner for best foreign language film.
Filmed in Sabinov, from an original story by Ladislav Grosman.
In Slovak with English subtitles, starring Ida Kaminska, screenplay by
Ladislav Grosman.
"Geschichte Der Juden In Humenne" (The Story of the Jews
of Humenne) by David Friedmann
This book gives a history of Humenne from the earliest times of Jewish
inhabitance until 1933. I have a copy of this book which is written in
German. Surname lookups are possible. Many thanks for this Chapter 2. translation
done by Maurice and Helen Haberman.

Who was the Ksav Sofer? Abraham Samuel Benjamin Wolf Schreiber
(1815-1871) was the oldest son of Moses (Hasam Sofer) Schreiber, succeeded
his father in 1839 as rabbi and rosh yeshivah of Pressburg, a post he occupied
for 32 years. He was one of the leaders of Hungarian Orthodoxy for the
Jewish Congress which took place in 1869, and published responsa and expositions
of the Torah. (From EJ)

"Encyclopedia of the State of the Hungarian Crown"their
History, Geography, Art, Folklor,Politics and Economic Conditions by Dr.
Borovszky Samu, translated by Marta M. Szucs

Other Helpful Dictionaries, Books and Maps

Outstanding & Famous Humennites

István Thomán Thomán was born in Humenne in 1862 to Dr. David Thoman and
Rosa Weisberger. He was a student of Franz Liszt. He taught piano at the Royal Hungarian
Academy of Music in Budapest (now the Franz Liszt Academy), and Bela Bartok was one of
his pupils. Thomán's six-volume Technique of Piano Playing is still in use today.
(Mary Ellen Kammert(9-18-06)

Searchable Databases

JewishGen Family Finder

This is a database of towns and surnames currently being researched
by Jewish genealogists worldwide. Click the JGFF button to find others
researching family connections to Humene. Click here
to add your own information or learn more about the database.

The Holocaust

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Humenne

Pictures donated by Oleg Lukac

"The town of Humenne with respect and commemorations
remembers all its 2200 Jewish citizens who after the forced transports
in 1942, were murdered in concentration camps.
We give honor to their memory."

March 13, 1942 - Eichmann begins preparation for the evacuation of Slovakian Jews.

May 24, 1942 - Leopold Salamon, his family, and the Jews of Humenne
deported to Rojowiac on transport #35. "Arriving there the next day
they found little food, much sickness, and work clearing swamps. Of those who
survived until August , 1942, 700 were shot as they were driven to the trains. They
were shipped (on a layer of live whitewash -- burning) to Sobibor, where
they were immediately killed." Melody Amsel Gross

"Yad Vashem has 20 reels of microfilmed cards from the first and biggest
transport operation which the Nazis employed between March and October, 1942. In this operation 58,000 Jews were deported from Slovakia." (Robert Klein, HUNG-SIG article) 39,000 of them went to the Lublin district (Sobibor and Belsec), the remainder to Auschwitz.

"The transports from Humenne that went to Auschwitz first stopped in Poprad which is at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. Poland is just over the border and Auschwitz is a train ride a few hours to the North." (Melody Amsel, August, 2000)

"I was about five years old when I saw the Jews of Humenne walk past my house on the way to the train station. There were men, women and children. One elderly lady was limping. I went into my house and brought her out a cane to help her walk. She thanked me. My father came out and picked me up and we watched, sadly, as the people walked solemnly by. It was May 24, 1942." (Louis "Lajos" Gross, 2000)